There's an easy way to become a better-liked leader — and most people forget all about it

Leadership experts like to talk about the importance of
soliciting feedback — of making peace with the awkwardness
and asking your team what they think of your performance so far.

In fact, one former Googler
told Business Insider that not asking for feedback
is the No. 1 mistake she sees leaders make.

But if you've mustered the courage to find out
what other people really think of you, you're hardly out of
the woods. There's a second step to improving your reputation
among your team — and it's arguably easier than the first.

It's called feedforward, a term coined by
leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith.

In his 2007 book, co-written with Mark Reiter, "What
Got You Here Won't Get You There," Goldsmith writes that
feedforward is a simple process that can be as or more effective
as feedback.

Here are the steps Goldsmith outlines in the book:

Pick one behavior you'd like to change.

Describe your goal in a one-on-one conversation with anyone —
it could be your partner, a friend, a coworker, or even a
stranger.

Ask the person for two suggestions for the future that could
help you achieve your goal.

Listen without judgment. The only thing you can say in
response is "thank you."

Repeat the same process with another person.

Goldsmith says the feedforward dialogue is generally less
uncomfortable than the feedback one, because no one's criticizing
the boss's behavior per se, so they're less inclined to get
defensive.

Moreover, he says, while you can't change your behavior in the
past, you can definitely modify your behavior going forward,
which is empowering.

As
more companies work to revamp their
employee feedback systems, it's worth thinking about how to
make feedforward a regular part of communication between
coworkers. It's probably less intimidating and just as helpful.